Chapter 1 What Lies Beyond Red Lake?

What lies beyond Red Lake?

No one knows the answer to this question… except for Meng Xizhou.

The mists of Red Lake are nonexistent to her, so theoretically, as long as she walked far enough, she could see the other side of Red Lake.

In truth, there's nothing on the other side of Red Lake.

Only a simple wooden hut.

No one would ever imagine that the legendary Guang Ming Shen Zuo (Light Throne) would reside in such a primitive building.

Meng Xizhou stopped.

She could no longer advance; reaching this point meant she was closest to the gods.

The waters of Red Lake are submerged in countless ancient Wen Zhen Wen (inscription arrays).

She had a premonition that taking another step would cause the arrays within the lake to explode.

What would be the consequences of touching the restrictions personally set by the Shen Zuo (Throne)?

She didn't know and didn't want to know.

"Shen Zuo (Throne) Your Excellency."

Meng Xizhou took a light breath. Her voice wasn't loud because she knew the Shen Zuo (Throne) could hear every sound within the entire divine domain.

"I have arrived."

After she finished speaking, she waited quietly.

The starry night was like an oil painting, and the scattered radiance fell on the lake surface. Suddenly, a breeze blew, and the radiance blurred—

The wooden hut opened.

A figure slowly pushed the door open. It was an old man draped in a pure white religious robe, his white hair neatly tied up. His face was very pale, and his eye sockets were deep-set.

He raised his head and looked at the world outside.

Then he lowered his head and looked at Meng Xizhou on the distant lake.

…

…

Today's Guang Ming Cheng (City of Light) is much like Chang Ye (Long Fields) of yesteryear.

Tens of millions of eyes were focused here.

Meng Xizhou wanted to see Guang Ming (Light), and everyone else wanted to see Guang Ming (Light) as well… everyone was concerned about how the Guang Ming Shen Zuo’s (Light Throne's) "illness" really was.

Before the Xi Du (Western Crossing), many people had speculated that the so-called "serious illness" was likely fake.

However, even a lie could take two forms.

The less the Guang Ming Shen Zuo (Light Throne) appeared, the more people would think in the worst possible way.

This thought existed not only among the large envoys from various continents who had come to Xi Du (Western Crossing), but even the Sheng Cai Zhe (Holy Judges) within the Guang Ming Shen Dian (Temple of Light) couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Even Meng Xizhou, as a Shen Nv (Divine Maiden), wanted to know the answer.

And now, she already knew.

"Your body seems very weak…"

Meng Xizhou looked at the old man, and it only took her a second to confirm the identity of the person before her.

The moment he appeared.

Countless rays of light from Red Lake surged toward the Guang Ming Shen Zuo’s (Light Throne's) body. This was the power that only a "god's" body possessed, surpassing any mortal realm. Even a lucky person like her, who was born with an affinity for light, couldn't compare to him in terms of compatibility.

The sky had originally been dim tonight.

But when the old man pushed open the wooden house and stood by the lake, the other side of Red Lake lit up as if the sun had risen.

Compared to him, Meng Xizhou lost her color.

But… the starry night hadn't changed at all. After the Guang Ming Shen Zuo (Light Throne) pushed open the wooden door, the new sun didn't appear, and the miracle didn't continue.

From this, it could be judged that the old man before her was far from his peak.

"No one can fight against time… not even me."

The old man smiled. At this moment, enveloped in countless blazing lights, his face gradually disappeared, leaving only large patches of pure white light.

Meng Xizhou no longer looked at the sun on the other side of Red Lake.

Now that the Shen Zuo (Throne) had appeared.

For her to continue staring would be a form of blasphemy.

Meng Xizhou lowered her head slightly and said softly, "I have many things I don't understand."

The old man said, "You don't understand why I watched you being押入秘牢 (imprisoned in the secret prison). You don't understand why I didn't care about Gao Mo stealing the 【不死者】(Immortal)'s blood. You don't understand why I always stay here, unwilling to go out and see the world…"

Gao Mo was the name of the Da Zhang Lao (Grand Elder).

Apart from the Guang Ming Shen Zuo (Light Throne) and Yuan Yang, not many people knew the Da Zhang Lao's (Grand Elder's) name because he had lived for too long, so long that the later Sheng Cai Zhe (Holy Judges) had forgotten the Da Zhang Lao's (Grand Elder's) name.

Everyone called him by his honored title.

"Yes."

Meng Xizhou said, "These things you mentioned, I truly don't understand."

The old man said, "Come over here."

Meng Xizhou raised her head slightly, her eyes somewhat lost.

The old man standing on the other side of Guang Ming (Light) gently waved at her and smiled, "If you walk here, you will understand everything."

Meng Xizhou hesitated for a second, then slowly took a step forward.

Those last dozen or so steps leading to the other side of Red Lake had countless forbidden ancient Wen (inscriptions) floating beneath the lake water… but at this moment, these ancient Wen (inscriptions) didn't react.

Meng Xizhou walked to the other side without any problems.

She stood beside the old man, her expression still lost. Standing beside the Guang Ming (Light), she felt a long-lost sense of vastness and warmth.

However, she still didn't understand the answers to those questions.

"Look."

The old man put his hands behind his back, pointed his chin, and asked, "Now do you see the answer?"

"…"

The old and the young stood in the radiance of the other side of Red Lake.

Meng Xizhou tried to look for a long time. Her eyesight was very good, and the mists of Red Lake didn't exist for her.

But after looking for a long time, she couldn't see anything.

"I can't see it, and I don't understand." So she could only answer honestly.

"You are now standing on the other side of Red Lake, standing beside the Guang Ming (Light)… you have reached the 'end point'."

The old man slowly turned his head, looked at the Shen Nv (Divine Maiden), and asked seriously, "Since you have already reached the 'end point', does the road you walked here still matter?"

Meng Xizhou was silent.

"Gao Mo stole the 【不死者】(Immortal)'s blood, wanting to restrain the calamity and ominousness… in the end, he died from the backlash."

The old man continued, "Everything he wanted to do failed."

Upon hearing these two answers, Meng Xizhou understood everything.

She said softly, "So you didn't not know. You knew everything, but you were just watching."

"Yes. I was just watching."

The old man's tone was as calm as ever, "What I have been doing for the past dozen years… is watching. Why should I go see the world? Just like Red Lake, every inch of water here will naturally have the wind to create ripples, without me having to push it. The same principle applies to every living being in this world. They all have their own 'end points' that they will reach. What I do is watch them reach their respective 'end points', trying as much as possible not to interfere."

"If you had intervened, many people would have died less."

Meng Xizhou said, "Gao Mo has done many wrong things in recent years."

"For every few ripples that disappear from this lake surface… there will also be a few more."

The old man said softly, "If you really want to calculate 'gain and loss', then you have to consider the visible and the invisible. After I interfered with Gao Mo, it would cause many things to disappear. Some people would survive, but someday in the future, even more people would die."

"Then you can intervene a second time," Meng Xizhou said.

"And then there would be countless times, and the results might be worse each time."

Meng Xizhou couldn't refute it.

"I know what you want to say today."

The old man spoke again, "First of all, I am still alive… although my condition is not good, I know everything that is happening outside. Jia Wei died, Gao Mo died, and the team sent by the Shen Dian (Temple) to the Bing Hai (Ice Sea) disappeared. These years, I have been watching everything that is happening outside from the other side of Red Lake, but I am just watching and not interfering."

"I can hear every breath of every living being in the Shen Yu (Divine Domain) clearly."

"Many years ago, I began a long calculation. All the non-interference is so that everything can be frozen at a certain specific moment."

"In my opinion, the truly important thing… is for you to be able to make up your mind to stand in front of me."

"This is very important, more important than everything else combined."

"The reason why I don't go to see the masses is because my time is really running out, and my energy only allows me to do one or two things."

"If Guang Ming Cheng (City of Light) is destined to usher in the sunset, then I hope that only the person standing on the other side can see this sunset."

He slowly turned his head and said, "That's you."

"Shen Zuo (Throne)…"

After listening to these long words, Meng Xizhou's eyes were full of suppressed shock.

"Yes, in my heart, there is no one more suitable than you to be my 'successor'."

The old man lowered his eyes and smiled, "When Gu Nanfeng came to Guang Ming Cheng (City of Light) back then, I gave him a token. At that time, I was very optimistic about that young man named Song Ci… It's a pity that he doesn't seem to have any interest in the Guang Ming Huo Zhong (Light Seed). Choosing a successor is not a good news worth showing off everywhere, after all, it means that I am about to die."

Meng Xizhou was silent.

After a long time, she opened her mouth and said, "Do you mean that I will become the successor of the 'Guang Ming Huo Zhong (Light Seed)'?"

"Yes, you will become the next Guang Ming Shen Zuo (Light Throne)."

The old man said calmly, "If there are no accidents… when I die, you will be the Guang Ming Shen Zuo (Light Throne)."

"Accident?"

Meng Xizhou raised her eyebrows and said, "What do you mean by accident?"

"The weight of the Huo Zhong (Seed) cannot be borne by ordinary mortals."

The old man lowered his eyes and said, "Even if you are born with an affinity for Guang Ming (Light) and are loved by the heavens, you may not be able to successfully melt the 'Guang Ming Huo Zhong (Light Seed)'. You not only need to have a strong extraordinary source to support you, but also an extremely tenacious will, plus a little bit of luck…"

A short pause.

The old man continued, "… to become the sun."

Meng Xizhou took a deep breath and asked seriously, "So what should I do?"

"Do what you should do, do what the sun should do."

The old man chuckled, "Haven't you asked yourself countless times in the secret prison? The answer is in your heart."

"I…"

Meng Xizhou hesitated for a moment and said, "I have another request for seeing you this time."

The old man no longer spoke, but looked at the woman.

Meng Xizhou said, "I hope you can open the restrictions on the 【禁忌书楼】(Forbidden Book Tower)."

In the eyes of the world, the biggest miracles of Guang Ming Cheng (City of Light) are Ri Luo Shan (Sunset Mountain) and Red Lake.

But in fact…

Just as the Shen Dian (Temple) was built around Ri Luo Shan (Sunset Mountain) and Red Lake, Ri Luo Shan (Sunset Mountain) and Red Lake exist to protect the 【禁忌书楼】(Forbidden Book Tower).

There are countless books in this tower.

It is said that there are answers to all the questions in the world here—

As long as you are destined for this answer.

Then… you can find it in the book tower.

The power in the 【禁忌书楼】(Forbidden Book Tower) has nothing to do with Guang Ming Huo Zhong (Light Seed). This belongs to the illusory "fate" and "cause and effect."

However, the earliest Guang Ming Shi Zu (Light Ancestor) who came to this ancient city six hundred years ago carried out layers of protection on it and set up countless restrictions. Only each successor to the Guang Ming (Light) position has the power to open it.

"You want to open the 【禁忌书楼】(Forbidden Book Tower)…"

The old man narrowed his eyes, "I remember you went to see it once many years ago. Now you want to see it a second time?"

"Yes, and no."

Meng Xizhou said, "I want to ask you to open the 【禁忌书楼】(Forbidden Book Tower) and let everyone in the world see it."